You’ve got to hand it to Apple: They may not move quickly when a storm rolls into their domain, but when they do finally speak up, it’s decisive and gets the job done. Today it’s the drama surrounding contacts privacy, sparked by the Path app last week, which Apple plans to fix at the operating system level with a forthcoming update. But who can get excited about that when we’ve got a new Smurfs app, am I right? Read on to find out the rest of the day’s news for Wednesday, February 15, 2012.

Apple Will Require Permission to Access Contacts in Future Update

Just about everyone has chimed in on the subject of Path and contacts privacy, with some corners of the tech journalism world even turning the debate into a frat boy-style food fight between themselves. One entity we haven’t heard from is Apple, the company whose App Store made it possible for Path to gobble up users’ contact data without permission in the first place. That changed today, with AllThingsD reporting that Apple agrees that the privacy gaffe is serious, and intends to do something about it. “Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines*,” Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told AllThingsD. “We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.” As it turns out, Apple’s response comes right on the heels of a formal inquiry by Congress on the subject -- talk about dodging a bullet in Cupertino!

The Smurfs Classic Series Comes to Digital, First One’s Free

Who’s ready to Smurf it up? Those loveable little blue boys (and one girl!) are back, courtesy of zuuka’s iStoryTime division. The Smurfs Classic Series brings the original storybooks into the digital realm, optimized for iOS with animation, sound effects and the ability for the reader to record their own voice for personalized narration. “Now that the classics are available, parents from around the world can enjoy sharing the stories they loved growing up with their children from the convenience of their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch," said Woody Sears, founder of zuuka. The free universal app includes the first tale, “The Giant Smurf,” which means that, before you know it, you’ll be dropping $2.99 via in-app purchase to enjoy each of the other classic tales on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. The Smurfs Classic Series is available now from the App Store and is compatible with all devices running iOS 4.2 or later.

Fair Labor Association Finds Apple’s Plant Conditions Above Average

Well, that was quick! After announcing on Monday that Apple was voluntarily subjecting its Chinese manufacturing plants to inspection by the Fair Labor Association, the FLA is already chiming in with an initial “all clear” at the first one, Foxconn. According to Reuters, the FLA found that working conditions there “are far better than those at garment factories or other facilities elsewhere in the country,” despite a rash of worker suicides and plant explosions. "The facilities are first-class; the physical conditions are way, way above average of the norm,” noted FLA president Auret van Heerden, who also suggested that “boredom and alienation” could have contributed to the aforementioned worker suicides. "I was very surprised when I walked onto the floor at Foxconn, how tranquil it is compared with a garment factory," he said. "So the problems are not the intensity and burnout and pressure-cooker environment you have in a garment factory. . It's more a function of monotony, of boredom, of alienation perhaps." Around 30 FLA staff members are currently inspecting two Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengu, where each plant staffs around 100,000 workers. The inspections will eventually expand to other Apple suppliers, including Quanta Computer Inc., Pegatron Corp. and Wintek Corp in the weeks to come.

Good News, RIM: PlayBook Eating iPad Market Share -- in Canada

Research in Motion could certainly use some good news these days, and finally, this week they’re getting some. According to AppleInsider, the company’s much-maligned BlackBerry PlayBook tablet has finally captured a 15 percent share of the market, reducing the iPad’s to a mere 68 percent. In what alternate universe is this occurring? Why, RIM’s home turf: Canada! The figures come courtesy of Toronto-based market research firm Solutions Research Group, who notes in The Globe and Mail that the PlayBook increased its share of the tablet market in Canada by 10 percent thanks to steep discounts on the beleaguered hardware. Android tablets are also credited with eroding some of Apple’s lead up north with the iPad, which has dropped from 86 percent to 68 percent since last fall. The data comes from a survey of 1,000 Canadians, many of whom are undoubtedly waiting anxiously for that PlayBook 2.0 software update so they can finally email their American friends from the tablet rather than having to tether it to their BlackBerry each time.

Apple Slashing iAd Prices, Could it Be a Loser?

AdAge is reporting that Apple “is once again slashing the minimum amount it charges advertisers to run a campaign on its iAd mobile ad system and boosting the amount it pays mobile app developers.” After launching with a $1 million buy-in price in 2010 which quickly dropped to $500,000 and then $300,000, “advertisers will now have to spend just $100,000 for Apple mobile campaigns running in iPhone and iPad apps.” App developers will also get a bigger slice of the pie, with 70 percent of ad revenues for iAds included in their app versus the previous 60 percent. So what’s to blame for the changes, two years after iAd was launched to great fanfare? “Apple has been losing share in the mobile-ad market,” the report reveals, “threatening the business and app developers’ ability to make money from advertising.” Google is still the king when it comes to mobile ads with a 24 percent share of the $630 million market over the last year, up from 19 percent the previous year. Apple’s share declined from 19 percent in 2010 to only 15 percent today -- not really a surprise, considering the insane number of Android smartphones worldwide.